Katy Perlman Tribute

“The wind moaning down the valley is your breath Collecting in the channels of your heart.”

Katy Perlman

Since how many lifetimes has a year gone by When we didn’t meet in some fine meadow In the clear air of April? Not yesterday or any other day this year Did you, in your red silk dressing gown, Slap my shoulder and ask me those questions I could not find to ask myself.

On New Year’s morning I knew it was you By the sound of sunlight moving through the grass, The afterimage radiance of a butterfly, The dense loam under my feet. Holding the odor of rain.

I recognize you in death even more Than in this life you left&#151 That wind moaning down the valley is your breath Collecting in the channels of your heart. That blur of stars above the forests Are your luminous shoulder joints. Gliding in their sockets as your countless arms Encircle me, this small, dark child Dreaming on the wheel of night.

Only your special magic could call us, One by one, hours after your passing To witness these miracles of your holy body. Speech and mind growing unhindered To fill the infinite container that now holds you.

There were rainbows scattered In the eyes of those who loved you. Milk lakes in the gentle speech Of those who pronounced your name, And offering goddesses dropped clouds of yellow roses. Oozing nectar, to where your holy body had been And now, the bricks removed one by one was gone.

So accustomed to searching, I am startled To find that you are always here, Above my head or in my heart. Uncovering memories I could never, Till now, quite remember, So that my whole life suddenly is laid out straight Under the white light of day.

I will do all I can, precious Lama. To reveal your simple truth To this grieving world, the way the irridescent Patterns of a moth’s wing repeat themselves In the soft bronze glow of lamplight.

Hold us in your loving embrace And light our minds with your luminous fire. So that we may increase your special magic For all mothers who we have learned to love As dearly as you have loved us.

If we want to understand how we are ordinarily misled by our false projections and how we break free from their influence, it is helpful to think of the analogy of our dream experiences. When we wake up in the morning, where are all the people we were just dreaming about? Where did they come from? And where did they go? Are they real or not?